Virgo poet and theologian Charles Williams connected the art of tarot reading to the elements that govern us and the energy that surrounds us, “It’s said that the shuffling of the cards is the earth, and the pattering of the cards is the rain, and the beating of the cards is the wind, and the pointing of the cards is the fire. That’s of the four suits. But the Greater Trumps, it’s said, are the meaning of all process and the measure of the everlasting dance.”
Humans have been dancing with divination since time immemorial but the oldest surviving set of tarot cards, known as the Visconti-Sforza deck, dates to 16th Century Italy.
The tarot was adopted for purposes of fortune telling in France around 1780 and hit pay dirt in 1909 when Libra mystic Arthur Edward Waite commissioned Pamela Colman Smith AKA Pixie, to illustrate the widely circulated and wildly popular Waite-Smith or Rider-Waite deck.
In relationship to astrology, every zodiac sign has a corresponding card in the Major Arcana. Read on to learn more about the cards that correlate to the stars above and the wisdom within.
If you are looking for a tarot reading or would like to see the full splendor of your decanic tarot wheel based on the astrological degrees of your birth chart, I highly recommend booking a reading with tarotist and astrologer Elise Wells of Planet Poetica or Christopher Marmolejo of The Red Read.
ARIES (March 21 – April 19)
The Emperor
Cardinal fire, Aries is represented by the Emperor card, the marriage of will and wisdom. The card depicts a stately male figure seated on a throne adorned with ram heads — a nod to the symbol for Aries and a very heavy metal furniture choice.
The Emperor is dressed in armor, a reminder of the wars that have been fought and the battles yet to come. The card represents the archetype of the father. In one hand, this daddy holds a scepter, sometimes an ankh, denoting his position as ruler; in the other, he cradles an orb symbolizing the realm he is charged with protecting. His long beard represents the acuity of experience, while the mountains behind him are emblematic of his grand-scale ambitions and solid foundation. Beneath the mountains, there is a stream, indicative of the emotional current that informs but does not overwhelm him.
Aries is ruled by Mars, planet of drive and desire and the Emperor is will made manifest; both the sign and the card remind us that we must be ever prepared to take up arms, literal and metaphorical, but only when the fight serves the collective, it is not enough to rule, you must protect. The lesson: There is no true power without purpose.
TAURUS (April 20 – May 20)
The Hierophant
The fixed earth of Taurus is associated with The Hierophant, or Pope in the Major Arcana. The word hierophant is a combination of the Greek hieros, meaning ‘sacred’ and phainein meaning ‘show, reveal,’ literally translating to one who reveals the sanctified. Hierophant was the distinction given to the priests of the cult of the grain goddess Demeter who initiated the faithful into the Eleusinian mysteries.
In the tarot depiction, the Hierophant sits between two temple columns symbolizing the concrete and the esoteric. He wears a three-tiered crown denoting his rulership over the physical, spiritual and psychological realms. In one hand he holds the Papal Cross, representing his religious authority as well as his mastery of matter. With his other hand, he pushes two fingers towards heaven and two towards earth, indicating a benediction and the blessing of ‘as above, so below.’ At his feet sit two crossed keys, the braiding of the conscious and subconscious mind, both of which are necessary for unlocking sacred mysteries. Before him, two bald followers kneel, ready to receive the divine knowledge the Hierophant is tasked with transmuting.
The card is a reminder of the ordained responsibility of the bull herd to bridge the sacred and the ordinary, to keep eyes cast towards the unknown and hooves pushed into the sure, unblessed dirt.
GEMINI (May 21 – June 20)
The Lovers
In the Major Arcana of the Tarot, Gemini is represented by The Lovers. The two nude figures of Adam and Eve stand beneath the snake-talking tree of knowledge and the flowering tree of life, symbolizing the separateness that must be resolved in order for wholeness to be found. Adam casts his eye forward while Eve looks to the heavens, sight lines that point towards what can be seen and what must be intuitively felt. Both of these perspectives, the material and the immaterial, the tangible and the intangible must be considered when a choice is called for and integrated within each beating, bleeding human being.
Above the lovers, hovers the archangel Raphael, whose name translates to “heal.” This divine presence oversees the couple, encouraging them to reconcile themselves through communion. The Lovers card relates to Gemini through the concept of mirroring, a summons to look at life, others, and the universe at large as a reflection of the self.
CANCER (June 21 – July 22)
The Chariot
Cancer is represented by The Chariot; this card depicts an armored charioteer with crescent moon epaulets (the ruling luminary of the crab) being led by two protective guardians, often sphinxes, one black and the other white. These mythical creatures represent the oppositional forces the charioteer must master in order to move forward, the internal and the external, the masculine and feminine, the conscious and the unconscious.
The sphinxes are pulling the chariot and the charioteer himself is ever at risk of being drawn in two disparate directions. Yet, if he can rise to the challenge of commanding both his thoughts and emotions and direct them toward an ordained destination, he is unstoppable. Behind the charioteer is a river, a reference to the ruling element of this cardinal water sign as well as a directive to change course when necessary.
LEO (July 23 – August 22)
Strength
In the Major Arcana, Leo corresponds to the card of Strength, the iconography of which reflects the complex nature of the sign. A fierce lion is depicted under the serene presence of a woman, a marriage of physical ferocity and gentle power. The lion represents passion, the ego and the search for human connection. The big cat is also a stand-in for the shadow side of Leo energy that can manifest within them when their needs go unmet, deeds go unnoticed and the self unexplored. In contrast and compliment, the woman in white symbolizes the self-love required to cure, or tame, these destructive impulses.
Leo rules the heart and in kind, the Strength card shows us the balance to be sought between fire and fortitude. The Strength card is the 8th card of the tarot and Leo rules the lion’s share of August, the 8th month of the year and a number synonymous with achievement, abundance, fortune and karmic debt. In Chinese numerology, the number is considered so lucky that it is sought out for inclusion in wedding dates, business deals, addresses and finances. Relative to the number 8, the maiden is crowned with the infinity symbol suggesting the limitless capacity of the human heart.
VIRGO (August 23 – September 22)
The Hermit
Mutable earth, Virgo is represented by the Hermit card which reveals a cloaked, bearded figure, standing lantern in hand atop a solitary mountain. The figure can be interpreted as a shamanic father time type and the lantern as the light of truth and consciousness. The Hermit card carries with it a spiritual connotation suggesting that it is through separating the self from the masses and retreating into the richness of the natural world that cures can be found and wisdom sought. Fully formed, wholly himself and with the vantage of the mountaintop, the card, like the sign, serves to remind us that when we look within, we never feel without.
The energy of the Hermit card is distilled by writer, super freak and fellow Virgo D.H. Lawrence who espoused, “This is what I believe: That I am I. That my soul is a dark forest. That my known self will never be more than a little clearing in the forest. That gods, strange gods, come forth from the forest into the clearing of my known self, and then go back. That I must have the courage to let them come and go. That I will never let mankind put anything over me, but that I will try always to recognize and submit to the gods in me and the gods in other men and women. There is my creed.”
And so too is it the creed and the cure for Virgo; nothing is finished, nothing is perfect, we honor the clearing in the forest by bowing to the godly, resisting the lowly and exalting in the knowledge we find between.
LIBRA (September 23 – October 22)
Justice
Within the Major Arcana, Libra correlates to the Justice card. The card depicts an androgynous crowned judge, seated on a throne with one foot peaking out from beneath their robe. The judge holds a two edged sword in their right hand and the karmic balances in their left, suggesting the robed magistrate weighs logic and intuition, balancing both before coming to a conclusion or reaching for the blade of decisiveness.
The image calls to mind the Greek goddess Themis, dealer of divine justice and Maat the Egyptian goddess of divine order who weighed the hearts of the dead against a single feather to discern who was virtuous and fit for acceptance in the afterlife and who was to be cast out and returned.
Franco Santoro of Astroshamanism.com writes, “This card is about consciously seeing and acknowledging the truth about ourselves and the world, and making the right choices according to a deep inner sense of justice rather than to what is considered just in the consensus reality. A deep sense of justice acknowledges all aspects of reality, ordinary and non-ordinary, life and death, keeping them in balance, without either of them prevailing.”
Astrology 101: Your guide to the star
- The 12 zodiac signs
- What are the astrology houses
- Here’s what each planet represents
- Sun, moon and rising signs: Get to know your Big 3
SCORPIO (October 23 – November 21)
Death
In the Major Arcana of the tarot, the sign of Scorpio is represented by the Death card. Fittingly, the operative style of Scorpio is memento mori. Rulers of the eighth house of sex, death and regeneration they exist as skulls, waning hourglasses and rotten fruit in the paintings of yore, to remind us that life is brief and death is inevitable. This energy is not to be understood as grim but urgent — a call to be conscious of the ephemeral nature of time and to be present in each moment of it.
In the Rider-Waite depiction of the card, the armed skeletal figure of death can be seen riding a white horse. The skeleton represents what remains after we shed our mortal coil and his armor symbolizes that which cannot be destroyed. The white horse can be understood as ritual purification, the clean slate after release and the transmission of pain into love and trauma to transcendence. Both the card and the sign of Scorpio offer the lesson of letting go as a means to moving forward.
Other figures that factor into the card are a desperate clergyman trying to plead his way out of death (no dice, padre), a woman turned away from the skeleton, an allegory for the ways we as humans avoid or disassociate from the reality of mortality, a child who accepts death with direct eye contact and the absence of fear and a recently departed monarch who reminds us that there is no power greater or more equalizing than death itself.
SAGITTARIUS (November 22 – December 21)
Temperance
Go big or go home, more is more Sagittarius is represented by the Temperance card. The card depicts a white-robed, red-winged angel with the alchemical symbol for fire emblazoned on her chest. She stands with one foot in moving water and the other on river stones, emblematic of the Sagittarian struggle to balance grounding with a perpetual step into the unknown. The purple flowers at her feet are a nod to Iris, the Greek goddess of the rainbow, a wayfaring optimist whose spirit is shared by the archer archetype.
The angel pours liquid between two golden goblets, effectively marrying their contents to create something more powerful. That mixing, or tempering, reflects Sagittarius energy at its highest expression, the combination of intellect and emotion, passion and patience that paves the way to enlightenment.
CAPRICORN (December 22 – January 19)
The Devil
Cardinal earth, Capricorn is represented by the Devil. The card, like the sign, is deeply misunderstood. Even the name itself is a misnomer. The horned creature pictured on a throne with the symbol for Saturn etched into his palm is not, in fact, Satan, but Pan.
The pagan version of a pastoral playboy, Pan was half-man and half-goat, famed for chasing nymphs, playing songs and generally reveling in his own base instincts. The card — and by extension, Capricorn — relates to the balance between indulgence and diligence.
If we give into decadence full tilt, it will destroy us — but if we deny it utterly, what kind of life are we living? Pan is flanked by two nude figures who are chained by the neck to his throne. Their bondage, however, is voluntary, as closer inspection reveals that the chains that bind them are loose enough to be removed. This iconography suggests that we are personally responsible for our own liberation and that freedom, to paraphrase Nietzsche, is choosing your own chains.
AQUARIUS (January 20 – February 18)
The Star
Aquarius is represented by the Star, a card that finds a naked woman kneeling down to offer water to the pool at her feet. With one foot on solid ground (stability, substance) and the other in the current (change, spirit), the Star symbolizes the two planetary forces that govern Aquarius, structured Saturn and rabble-rousing Uranus.
A bright central star rises over the head of the woman, shining as a symbol for hope, inspiration and the divine intercession of the universe. The central star is surrounded by a wreath of stars, each corresponding to one of the seven chakras. Behind our water bearer we see a sacred ibis perched in a tree, a bird associated with Thoth, the Egyptian god of knowledge, magic, sacred texts and science and the patron of scribes. The presence of the bird suggests that wisdom is the means to healing and knowledge is meant to be collected and shared. Apropos of this, Aquarius rules the eleventh house of community and natives are charged with bringing the lightning of change and the momentum of progress to the worlds they move through.
PISCES (February 19 – March 20)
The Moon
Apropos of the sign of poets, Pisces is represented by the moon. Associated with shadow work, idealism and delusion, the card depicts a dog and a wolf howling at a full moon. One light, the other dark, one domestic and the other wild, these hounds are emblematic of the forces within each of us. A stream, meant to suggest the unconscious mind, flows in front of them and a crayfish/lobster/crustacean of one type of another, representing the emergence of consciousness, crawls surely towards the shore.
The card is bordered by two towers, representing the solid, practical aspects of life with the wide expanse of possibility between them. A path is cut for the crayfish in the middle of these towers, making room for the dual howling between our godly and creaturely selves. The card and the sign it represents teach us that we can only ascend/wake up/walk between when we are able to see clearly and integrate fully with a healthy dose of skepticism and a pocket full of moonbeam intuition.
Astrologer Reda Wigle researches and irreverently reports back on planetary configurations and their effect on each zodiac sign. Her horoscopes integrate history, poetry, pop culture and personal experience. She is also an accomplished writer who has profiled a variety of artists and performers, as well as extensively chronicled her experiences while traveling. Among the many intriguing topics she has tackled are cemetery etiquette, her love for dive bars, Cuban Airbnbs, a “girls guide” to strip clubs and the “weirdest” foods available abroad.
